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Nuggets rally past Cavs

Gallinari leads way in Denver win with 23 points

By John Henderson The Denver Post

Posted:
01/11/2013 11:02:03 PM MST

Updated:
01/11/2013 11:02:08 PM MST

DENVER -- This was supposed to be the easy month, wasn't it? It's when the Nuggets were going to settle in at home, ready to rise up the Northwest Division standings with 12-of-15 January games at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets had played the part, winning three in a row and four of five at home with the gimme showing up Friday night in the form of the injury-plagued Cleveland Cavaliers, sporting the second-worst record in the NBA.

Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers' dynamic point guard, was sick. It couldn't be set up better without a George Karl script.

Irving practically rolled out of bed to score 28 points. But, as it turned out, the Nuggets felt right at home after all. Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points to lead a gritty Denver comeback to survive 98-91.

"I expect most games to be fourth-quarter games," Karl said. "And I'd expect our team to play with more intensity and energy early in games. Between missed layups and free throws and turnovers, it was a struggle offensively. But we scored enough easy baskets in the end."

As of late Friday afternoon, questions remained whether Irving would even play. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott sent him home from the team's morning shootaround and kept an eye on him the entire first quarter.

With Anderson Varejao, the NBA' s second-leading rebounder already out six to eight weeks because of a knee injury, Cleveland had to play nearly perfect. It almost did.

Cleveland led 56-45 at halftime, with Irving scoring from all over the floor and Denver throwing it all over the gym.

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But after Irving's three consecutive jumpers in the fourth quarter, fatigue may have set in. He missed twice and Denver scored seven straight with Kosta Koufos' layin giving the Nuggets their first lead of the game with five minutes left, 87-85.

Gallinari hit a 25-foot 3-pointer for a 94-89 lead to ice it with 35 seconds left. Koufos backed Gallinari with a career-high 21 points, including nine in the decisive fourth quarter. "Kosta does a great job finding easy baskets for us," Karl said.

Down 11 points at halftime, Gallinari sparked a comeback with two three-point plays sandwiched around Koufos' fast-break layin to close to 62-61. Cleveland still led 76-72 after three quarters, setting up the wild fourth quarter.

The Nuggets' castle started to crumble early in the game. Nine turnovers in the first quarter were a big reason they trailed 30-23 after the quarter.

"We have to play better than we played tonight to continue to win against the teams that are coming in the next couple of weeks," Karl said.

Denver's saving grace against the Cavs was Kenneth Faried. He hit all four shots, all on hustle plays around the basket, to score 11 in the first quarter just to keep it close. He finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds

Denver's Ty Lawson was nearly as invisible as Irving was visible. Lawson, who said after his 19 points against Orlando on Wednesday that he had fully healed from an Achilles tendon injury, was 1-for-7 in the first half and committed three turnovers. But he made two key layins in the fourth-quarter comeback and finished with 13 points and a game-high eight assists.

Lawson can't be blamed for Denver's defensive problems in the first half, when Cleveland shot 53 percent (24-of-45).

The defense tightened in the second half, limiting the Cavs to 33 percent (13-of-40).

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